Dark Souls. Whether yourelish the challenge or find it entirely too brutal, this title that has become a household name thanks to the efforts of From Software and Hidetaka Miyazaki. These games had a huge surge in popularity thanks to the advertising of thePrepare To Dieedition ofDark Souls, and it’s been an exponential climb ever since. And, one thing that has remained commonplace ever since the days ofDemon’s Soulsis the strong armor designs.
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Simply put, the collective armory of theSoulsfranchise boasts some of the best fantasy designs we’ve ever seen in gaming. That said, it just so happens we’re here to cover the best and the worst. Keep in mind, there are like 300+ different looks spread throughout the franchise (not even countingBloodborneorSekiro), so your opinion will most likely differ from ours. But without further ado, let’s get into them, shall we?
10Best: The Game Cover Armor Sets
Let’s get the most obvious choice out of the way, as each of the three games includes an armor set that the “trailer” player character wears. This is the armor that is always seen first so it needs to have an incredibly strong design. Oscar’s Elite Knight armor inDark Souls 1is still one of the best classical designs of all time, in our opinion.
And the Faraam armor fromDark Souls 2takes that charm and adds a bit of elegant flair to it with the fur. Then finally, the Firelink armor fromDSIIIis the reward from the final boss and a perfect combination of rustic charm and hardcore aesthetics. All three are different, yet similarly incredible.
9Worst: The Catarina Set
Oh man, this is going to hurt, but it has to be said. The Onion Knight Armor is awful looking! Its proper name is the Catarina set, worn by warriors of the country such as Siegmeyer. But, face it, it’s just ugly! The item descriptions use the excuse that the folds and rounded design are perfect for deflecting blows.
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Sure, it’s probably more spacious on the inside than most other armor, but there’s a reason armor is tight in the first place. Anyway, while Siegmeyer might be one of the best bros in the series, we’ll never get over how absurd his armor looks in comparison to the horrors of theDark Soulsworlds.
8Best: Gwyn’s Knights' Armor Sets
We’re covering a wide variety of armors with this one but basically, we mean any of the armors worn by the Four Knights of Gwyn such as Ornstein, Artorias, Gough, or even Ciaran. Smough is always associated with these knights, but his armor is more comical than cool due to the player character’s size.
Games in theSoulsfranchise always have a group of “trusted warrior"bosseslike the Pursuer or Throne Defenders inDSIIand Yhorm, or the Abyss Watchers inDS3. But, even among all these games, the armor donned by Gwen’s knight still shines brighter than the rest. Our personal favorite is Artorias of course. Seriously, he has one of the best designs in gaming history.
7Worst: The Mastodon Set
The Primal Knights are one of the many experimental monstrosities created by the royal brothers Vendrick and Aldia fromDark Souls II.These “knights” are essentially just bipedal mammoths in armor. The first time players encounter them in the game is terrifying, and they really are imposing.
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Sure they move slow, but if they land a hit, you’re as good as dead. So it’s neat that they even drop their armor in the first place. The problem is, it was built for a mammoth! Our player character is a tenth of their size and is missing a few key features like tusks, a trunk, or giant feet. So, this armor just looks outrageous on us, sadly.
6Best: The Armor Of Yurt’s Successors
The idea of a “cycle” is tantamount to theSoulsfranchise. Everything repeats, in some way shape or form. The flame is always re-kindled, there are always some “lords” that hold powerful souls, and there’s always a friendly betrayer. And no, we’re not talking about Patches. InDemon’s Soulsit’s Yurt,Dark Souls 1it’s Lautrec, inDSIIit’s a bit more unclear but Creighton is the closest example, and finally, inDark Souls IIIit’s Leonhard.
All of these characters share something though, and that is the fact that they all have amazing armors! Seriously, all of them are so different, yet each is masterfully designed in their own ways.
5Worst: The Xanthous/Old Monk’s Set
We hate this armor set. We hate it so much. Usually, in video games, comedic cosmetics are fun to use. But for some reason, in certain games, we just can’t stand them. TheDark Soulsfranchise shockingly fits into that category. This type of absurdly large, head-wrapped armor has appeared in some form within every single game starting with the Old Monk inDemon’s Souls.
There, at least it actually provided a benefit of buffing spells. But in every other game, this armor is statistically awful and is primarily used only for its appearance. And for good reason, because there is nothing more frustrating than having a player invade wearing one of these things!
4Best: Havel’s Armor Set
Again, in every game, there’s a knight or two who wear freakishly bulky armor. Havel the Rock, for one, has appeared in most of the games or at least his armor has. That’s because Havel’s armor is beloved by the fanbase for its design and insanely high poise.
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Of course, there are other armor sets with this obscenely heavy look, such as the Stone Set fromDSI, the Dragonrider set fromDSII, and a variety of sets fromDSIIIlike the such as the Drakeblood set. Basically, if there’s an armor that looks like it would literally crush the person wearing it, you can bet the fans love it. But Havel’s is easily the most iconic, with its poise-heavy bulk having been donned by countless players over the entire trilogy.
3Worst: The Nameless King’s Armor
Here’s the thing, the Nameless King is actuallyone of the best bossesin the entire franchise. He has a great entrance, he hints at some previously unexplained lore from the first game, and his fight is intensely challenging, yet fair. Seriously, a dragon-riding royal undead that summons the power of wind/lightning within his arena in the clouds? Too cool.
But, the Nameless King is only so imposing because of his stature, lighting, and size. When we attempt to wear his armor, it doesn’t have nearly the same effect. But that’s sort of apt, we guess, because only someone as grand as him should be able to pull of armor such as this.
We’re ending the best side of these armors with a meme. Why? Because we have to. It’s the MLG legend, the poise king, the SL 99 meta, and the undefeated champion of the online world, Giant Dad! This isn’t actually a “set” per se, but more of a community-approved combination of different armor pieces that add up to this “Giant Dad” persona.
Basically, this set is the meta for the PVP in the first Souls game and has gone down in history as an absolute Legend thanks to content creators like OnlyAfro. Heck, even Ken Ashcorp wrote a song about him, if that doesn’t qualify it as an amazing outfit, what can?
1Worst: The Moon Butterfly Set
And lastly, we’ll end this piece on a conflicting opinion. The Moon Butterfly Set is an odd piece of armor inDSII. It’s only obtainable in NG+ or by using a Bonfire Aesthetic in the hub area in order to buy it from Maughlin the Armourer.
Wearing the skirt and wings changes the player’s roll to a jump. and allows them to cover great distances without a running start. Which sounds good, right? And, wearing the full set poisons nearby enemies over time. So what’s the problem? Well, that poison also affects NPC’s, meaning that wearing the full armor around allies will aggro them, locking the player out of their shop permanently. So we simply can’t recommend it.
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